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VOL 12, Na. 20 • OCT. 9, 1981 s IN TWO SECTIONS
•
500 OUTSIDE OF D.C./BALTIMORE AREAS
THE GAY NEWSPAPER OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL
The killing of D.Ca's sex law reform
.A contest
between two
rival lobbies
by Jim Marks
The issues in the House of Represen-tatives
floor debate of the D.C. Sexual
Assault Reform Act were clear cut: tra-
--ditional morality vs. the District's right
to self-government.
But behind the scenes the contest was
between the relative strengths of two
lobbies: The Moral Majority and the
Gay Rights National Lobby. ,
Little more than two years old, Moral
Majority is the political wing of Jerry
Faiwell's $50 million religious empire:
According to published sources, it has a
$5 million budget and actess to the
mailing lists of over 4.5 milho' n contrib-
- utors. The_crgar!ization
the Moral Majority ep_ort, a monthly
tabloid, which claims a circulation of
-800,000.
GRNL consists of two floors in a
townhouse in an area where Capitol Hill
begins to fray into public housing pro-
Continued on page A-11
soDow
This Moral Majorio Report ad
called its supporters to arms.
BESTIAlairifWILL BE LEGAL IN OUR NATION'S CAPITAL ura.Ess YOU ACT NOW
Hoeft* Start W•chwepan •S•Peogalsor 23 I
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED: YOtt MOST CAtt.
(*WIRE your aman Which would:
...ungtootamon TODAY to STOP D.C. ACT 4-69.
&YR
sitturePsvhfbiting besbakty !sex with an .
ammo&
--fapaal the stKute under which Ca9saaassnin.
Plinscaa
was amarted lathe longW0176 =Wang; -tepee! the statutes 0 PIO/biting bnunntYon &mica:lay
-.ropes/ the C. low prohibiting sexual ...wcnr." of a
chskt by:reacher;
-9'44" timPeo•tr far fonWe rape from life anzprisonment forwent),Yaws in
MAKE
_Congress abet haw gost aecisaifai_
aulhoritrover
gibe Diswat of gamma*. CoriPmeg ow' vat. 0-C. „.,8CT.4-00.ifi Clumps sawatelbieoletlon_ 207,, Haase Akiabacoe 200 /way
gamier 1.1901. gAitralegtew
&yearatedwairtoepleaff Tar Yew Gatemegeonew abet you deal,avast mai:wet, feat yaw eadway mad Itssaiiity.
Avow kactiba pv.feelrpert ovary& vete AT Sever of 2.
The..",),8,6ktectel•Ar_a,Noiwabaryb•comehsel
Is ow naebes capita/ anima Covreara eetr, C.411
HOW Nal sat lf war Samson. aim! Conaperasnon are or Hoare ReeeIrtfon
gnaw 8. CO-SPOnaar and vofe for seaftaReeighefen 207 208.
Rights bill introduced in Senate
by Don Michaels
Fortuitous timing and three new co-sponsors
highlighted a Gay rights bill
- introduced into the U.S. Senate this
- -week by Sen. Paul E. Tsongas.
"I recognize that this is an emotional
issue and that the legislation introduced
today will be denounced and distorted,"
the Massachusetts Democrat told his
colleagues on October 6. The timing of
the legislation provided some welcome
news on the Gay rights front, as less.
than one week earlier the House of
Representatives had overwhelmingly -
rejected the D.C. Sex Law Reform Act.
Further, three new influential co-sponsors
signed on this year's bill —
Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass),
Alan Cranston (D-Ca), and Daniel K.
Inouye (33-Hawaii).
The bill Tsongas introduced, S. 1708,
seeks- to amend the 1964 Federal Civil
Rights Act to prohibit employment dis-crimination
based on sexual orientation.
It is similar to legislation he sponsored
last year, along with Sens. Daniel P.
Moynihan (I)-NY), Bob Packwood (R-Or),
and Lowell P. -liVeicker, Jr. (R-amtinyed
on page A-3
A blow to home
rules a setback
for D.C. Gays
by Jim Marks and Steve Martz
In a vote widely regarded as a signifi-cant
blow to the District's limited home
rule powers, the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives
on October I voted, by a wide
margin, to overturn the city's contro-versial
sex law reform.
The vote was also a setback for
Washington's politically influential Gay
community. Gay leaders had played a
significant role in drafting the legisla-tion
and, with the cooperation of city
officials, had quietly orchestrated the
lobbying effort to save, the legislation
after it came under attack from Jerry
Falwell's Moral Majority.
The 281-119 vote marked the first
time a District law which involved no
clear Federal interest has been over-turned
since Congress granted the city
limited home rule powers in 1973.
Leaders on both sides of the repeal bat-tle
were quick to note the significance of
the action.
The vote signifies that "home rule is
a sham and a fraud as it is perceived by
the majority of my colleagues in the
House of Representatives," said an
angry Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Ca) after
the vote. Dellums is head of the House
Committee on the District of Columbia
and had led the fight to save the D.C.
law.
City officials, wary of further strain-ing
their relationship with Congress
were a- little more cautious than Del-hims,
but scarcely so. Councilman Dave
Clarke (D-ward 1), whose committee
Continued on page A-10
A strong
role
in an
off year
election
Several school board
candidates receive
GAA, Stein blessings
by Brad Green
The Gertrude Stein Democratic
Club and the Gay Activists Alliance
have backed identical slates of candi-dates
running for the D.C. school board
in the November 3 general election.
Candidates receiving GAA's and
Stein's blessings are the Rev. David
Eaton and Phyllis Young in their bids
for two at-large seats, Alaire Rieffel for
the ward 2 post, and Mary Ann Recife
for the ward 3 position. Rieffel is the
only incumbent among the group.
Ward 8 voters will also be filling a
school board seat this November. Two
candidates from that ward, Linda
Continued on page A-6
A crowded field
for constitutional
convention delegates
by Brad Green
Both the Get wide Stein Democratic
Club and the Gay. Activists Alliance
have endorsed candidates seeking to
win elections this November as dele-gates
to the D.C. Constitutional Con-vention.
However, since there are 100
candidates spread over eight ward races
and an at-large race, competing for a
total of 45 delegate positions, it is not an
easy election for the dubs to analyze.
Accordingly, -GAA, on September
22, upon the advice of its Elections Pro-ject,
decided to limit itself to recom-mending
the four openly Gay ward
candidates and several a the candidates
- Tax credit issue
stirs up the most
controversy
by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.
Gay voters are being eagerly sought
out by both supporters and opponents
of the D.C. Educational Tax Credit
Initiative, even though no one is abso-lutely
certain the initiative will be on
the ballot in the November 3 city
election.
The controversial initiative would
allow a taxpayer who chooses to send a
child to a private school to deduct as
much as $1,200 per child for the pur-pose
of covering tuition and other costs
of the private school from what he or
she would pay in D.C. income taxes.
A coalition of local civic groups and
Continued on page A-6 Continued onspage A-6

VOL 12, Na. 20 • OCT. 9, 1981 s IN TWO SECTIONS
•
500 OUTSIDE OF D.C./BALTIMORE AREAS
THE GAY NEWSPAPER OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL
The killing of D.Ca's sex law reform
.A contest
between two
rival lobbies
by Jim Marks
The issues in the House of Represen-tatives
floor debate of the D.C. Sexual
Assault Reform Act were clear cut: tra-
--ditional morality vs. the District's right
to self-government.
But behind the scenes the contest was
between the relative strengths of two
lobbies: The Moral Majority and the
Gay Rights National Lobby. ,
Little more than two years old, Moral
Majority is the political wing of Jerry
Faiwell's $50 million religious empire:
According to published sources, it has a
$5 million budget and actess to the
mailing lists of over 4.5 milho' n contrib-
- utors. The_crgar!ization
the Moral Majority ep_ort, a monthly
tabloid, which claims a circulation of
-800,000.
GRNL consists of two floors in a
townhouse in an area where Capitol Hill
begins to fray into public housing pro-
Continued on page A-11
soDow
This Moral Majorio Report ad
called its supporters to arms.
BESTIAlairifWILL BE LEGAL IN OUR NATION'S CAPITAL ura.Ess YOU ACT NOW
Hoeft* Start W•chwepan •S•Peogalsor 23 I
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED: YOtt MOST CAtt.
(*WIRE your aman Which would:
...ungtootamon TODAY to STOP D.C. ACT 4-69.
&YR
sitturePsvhfbiting besbakty !sex with an .
ammo&
--fapaal the stKute under which Ca9saaassnin.
Plinscaa
was amarted lathe longW0176 =Wang; -tepee! the statutes 0 PIO/biting bnunntYon &mica:lay
-.ropes/ the C. low prohibiting sexual ...wcnr." of a
chskt by:reacher;
-9'44" timPeo•tr far fonWe rape from life anzprisonment forwent),Yaws in
MAKE
_Congress abet haw gost aecisaifai_
aulhoritrover
gibe Diswat of gamma*. CoriPmeg ow' vat. 0-C. „.,8CT.4-00.ifi Clumps sawatelbieoletlon_ 207,, Haase Akiabacoe 200 /way
gamier 1.1901. gAitralegtew
&yearatedwairtoepleaff Tar Yew Gatemegeonew abet you deal,avast mai:wet, feat yaw eadway mad Itssaiiity.
Avow kactiba pv.feelrpert ovary& vete AT Sever of 2.
The..",),8,6ktectel•Ar_a,Noiwabaryb•comehsel
Is ow naebes capita/ anima Covreara eetr, C.411
HOW Nal sat lf war Samson. aim! Conaperasnon are or Hoare ReeeIrtfon
gnaw 8. CO-SPOnaar and vofe for seaftaReeighefen 207 208.
Rights bill introduced in Senate
by Don Michaels
Fortuitous timing and three new co-sponsors
highlighted a Gay rights bill
- introduced into the U.S. Senate this
- -week by Sen. Paul E. Tsongas.
"I recognize that this is an emotional
issue and that the legislation introduced
today will be denounced and distorted,"
the Massachusetts Democrat told his
colleagues on October 6. The timing of
the legislation provided some welcome
news on the Gay rights front, as less.
than one week earlier the House of
Representatives had overwhelmingly -
rejected the D.C. Sex Law Reform Act.
Further, three new influential co-sponsors
signed on this year's bill —
Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass),
Alan Cranston (D-Ca), and Daniel K.
Inouye (33-Hawaii).
The bill Tsongas introduced, S. 1708,
seeks- to amend the 1964 Federal Civil
Rights Act to prohibit employment dis-crimination
based on sexual orientation.
It is similar to legislation he sponsored
last year, along with Sens. Daniel P.
Moynihan (I)-NY), Bob Packwood (R-Or),
and Lowell P. -liVeicker, Jr. (R-amtinyed
on page A-3
A blow to home
rules a setback
for D.C. Gays
by Jim Marks and Steve Martz
In a vote widely regarded as a signifi-cant
blow to the District's limited home
rule powers, the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives
on October I voted, by a wide
margin, to overturn the city's contro-versial
sex law reform.
The vote was also a setback for
Washington's politically influential Gay
community. Gay leaders had played a
significant role in drafting the legisla-tion
and, with the cooperation of city
officials, had quietly orchestrated the
lobbying effort to save, the legislation
after it came under attack from Jerry
Falwell's Moral Majority.
The 281-119 vote marked the first
time a District law which involved no
clear Federal interest has been over-turned
since Congress granted the city
limited home rule powers in 1973.
Leaders on both sides of the repeal bat-tle
were quick to note the significance of
the action.
The vote signifies that "home rule is
a sham and a fraud as it is perceived by
the majority of my colleagues in the
House of Representatives," said an
angry Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Ca) after
the vote. Dellums is head of the House
Committee on the District of Columbia
and had led the fight to save the D.C.
law.
City officials, wary of further strain-ing
their relationship with Congress
were a- little more cautious than Del-hims,
but scarcely so. Councilman Dave
Clarke (D-ward 1), whose committee
Continued on page A-10
A strong
role
in an
off year
election
Several school board
candidates receive
GAA, Stein blessings
by Brad Green
The Gertrude Stein Democratic
Club and the Gay Activists Alliance
have backed identical slates of candi-dates
running for the D.C. school board
in the November 3 general election.
Candidates receiving GAA's and
Stein's blessings are the Rev. David
Eaton and Phyllis Young in their bids
for two at-large seats, Alaire Rieffel for
the ward 2 post, and Mary Ann Recife
for the ward 3 position. Rieffel is the
only incumbent among the group.
Ward 8 voters will also be filling a
school board seat this November. Two
candidates from that ward, Linda
Continued on page A-6
A crowded field
for constitutional
convention delegates
by Brad Green
Both the Get wide Stein Democratic
Club and the Gay. Activists Alliance
have endorsed candidates seeking to
win elections this November as dele-gates
to the D.C. Constitutional Con-vention.
However, since there are 100
candidates spread over eight ward races
and an at-large race, competing for a
total of 45 delegate positions, it is not an
easy election for the dubs to analyze.
Accordingly, -GAA, on September
22, upon the advice of its Elections Pro-ject,
decided to limit itself to recom-mending
the four openly Gay ward
candidates and several a the candidates
- Tax credit issue
stirs up the most
controversy
by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.
Gay voters are being eagerly sought
out by both supporters and opponents
of the D.C. Educational Tax Credit
Initiative, even though no one is abso-lutely
certain the initiative will be on
the ballot in the November 3 city
election.
The controversial initiative would
allow a taxpayer who chooses to send a
child to a private school to deduct as
much as $1,200 per child for the pur-pose
of covering tuition and other costs
of the private school from what he or
she would pay in D.C. income taxes.
A coalition of local civic groups and
Continued on page A-6 Continued onspage A-6